


The Wrong Heaven

by Toaverse



Category: Onward (2020), Soul (2020)
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Comfort, Confusion, Death, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, T rating for mention of a broken neck, just in case
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-21
Updated: 2020-05-21
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:35:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24307528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Toaverse/pseuds/Toaverse
Summary: The trust bridge had failed just at the end, the unfortunate consequence being Ian’s death.And heaven? Well, that realm is something entirely different.At least for Ian.
Relationships: Iandore “Ian” Lightfoot & Joe Gardner
Comments: 9
Kudos: 14





	The Wrong Heaven

**Author's Note:**

> “Really Onwardverse... again?”
> 
> Yuppers!
> 
> Since those two films have some theme of death, AND come out in the same year, why not write a second crossover fic :)
> 
> Hehe... please join me in the Soul tag... :(
> 
> Btw, since I find the soul designes of Pixar quite shit, in this fic, the souls will transform in their normal, yet transparent body forms.
> 
> Enjoy! ^^

Black. All Ian can see was black, all around him.

He had seen the same color when he fell in the bottomless pit, having seen the robe not being tied around his waist anymore, draining all his confidence within a second as he stepped through air. He had seen the color when he was falling further in the pit, the only thing the elf felt was gravity pulling him deeper in. And he had seen the color when Ian had reached the end of the pit, knowing by feeling his neck break.

That was the last feeling his body felt, before the elf feels himself fall out of his own flesh and blood, falling further into nothingness while the same color is still all around him.

Ian falls deeper into who-knows-where, eventually hitting some kind of surface, yet he feels nothing. No pain, nothing. As if the surface is some kind of blockage that appears out of nowhere.

‘What just happend?’ The boy thought, laying there while staring above from where he just fell from. A moment passed before he got up from the ground, and was instantly met with his new form.

Looking at his hands, arms, feet and torso, Ian panics. His skin has changed from light blue to a cyan blue-ish tone, and he appears to be much smaller, especially his rare-formed feet and arms.

“W-what?! What is this?!” Ian panically asks out loud to himself, looking at his new form as if it’s his worst nightmare. The darkness around him then catches his attention, and the boy looks around him, his expression mixed with fear and confusion. Aside from the darkness, Ian can see that he’s on some kind of bridge, along with white light-giving stripes on both sides. “W-where am I?!”

Not knowing what to do, and not knowing where to go, Ian curls himself up in a ball on the ground, his body trembling and his breathing becoming uneven. All he wants right now is to be with his mother and Barley again, to spend time with them all day. But that is apparently too much for him to ask, because now he’s all alone in this strange, unknown dark realm that he can’t get out of.

The agonizing tone of Barley’s voice yelling his name makes its way into Ian’s mind. What the older elf mustn’t been thinking right now. A tear rolls down Ian’s cheek at the thought of it, followed by many more until he’s whimpering. 

God, did he wanna see his big brother right now, he would do anything for that...

“Hello?” A male voice calls out, sounding like he also doesn’t know where he is.

Ian got up as he hears the voice. ‘I’m not alone!’ He thought instantly, happy that he’s not the only one in this strange dark realm.

“Hello?” The voice called out again, this time closer in the boy’s direction.

As much as Ian wants to ask the voice where they even are, shyness and anxiety took over and he remains quiet.

And not long after, Ian sees a similar, yet different shaped being walking towards him. As the being got closer, the boy can see that he clearly is an adult, wearing white glasses and a small hat on his head. From what Ian can make out of the being’s form, he looks like he was once a cyclops with...two eyes? ‘Must’ve been a hybrid.’

“Hey, do you know where we are?” The ‘Cyclops Hybrid’ asks, his voice sounding like he’s expecting or hoping for a answer that can help him.

Anxiety builds up in Ian, not knowing what to say. ‘Cyclops Hybrid.’ notices, as he sees the boy trembling, clearly not knowing where they are.

“I-I don’t know...” the younger creature answers, panically looking around himself. “I-I really don’t know... Sorry...”

Guilt washes over the taller being as he sees the sight of the smaller, just now seeing and hearing that he is in fact still a child.

“Okey, okey, uhm...” the older being looks around himself, trying to find anybody who knows what this strange place is. He eventually spots three (what looks like) elderly figures walking casually to wherever they’re going. “Do you see those three... uhm...beings there?” He asks the younger being, to which he looks at the same direction before nodding in response. “Maybe they know where we are.” ‘Cyclops hybrid’ hopefully says. “Let’s ask them.” He says, because there’s no way he’s leaving a kid all alone.

Ian nods, understanding what he means. The taller creature already walks a bit ahead to the three figures. Ian hesitates for a few seconds before following the ‘Cyclops Hybrid’, yet keeping his guard up.

As they approach the three elderly figures, it becomes clear to the duo that they know where they are, seeing the three walk so casually to wherever they’re going. Or they can be lost as well.

‘Cyclops Hybrid’ was about to ask where they are, but one of the elders beat him to it.

“What are your names?” The only female of the trio asks, as if everything is just perfectly normal.

“I’m Joe.” The taller creature answers. “And this is...eh...” he pauses, looking at the smaller creature, asking for his name without words.

“Ian...” the former elf answers, his lack of confidence still being there.

“Yeah, we just want to ask what this strange place is.” The taller creature continues.

The three elderly look at each other with confusion, but also with worry in their eyes. Joe even caught one of them looking specifically at Ian with absolute worry.

“Well, the path to heaven, of cours.” The elderly woman answers. “Do you see that white circle over there?” She points in the direction the trio where walking. Ian and Joe turn around, following the woman’s pointing finger, and are met with a huge bright white portal almost blinding their eyes. “A time of rest and peace is awaiting us there.” The message instantly comes across the duo’s brains, the elders seeing their expressions of disbelief in their eyes. “It must’ve been sudden for you.” She lastly says, before going on her way to the portal along with the two other elderly.

Both Ian and Joe can’t hear the last sentence the woman said, having all their attention on the white portal, while it slowly dawns on them what had happend.

“We’re...dead...” Ian says, dragging his eyes away from the portal to the ground, remembering what the old lady ment with ‘a time of rest and peace.’ “We’re dead...”

The realization hit Joe as well, certainly by hearing the words of the younger being. His reaction however, is instant panic.

“Oh my gosh!” The thought alone of dying scares the former musician. Out of a desperate attempt to ascape death, he tries to jump off of the path bridge, but a force field that’s around it won’t let him. “Help! I’m not done-“ But Joe is cut off by the power of the force field smashing him back on the ground, not letting him escape.

Joe got up after a few seconds, still not able to believe that he’s dead. And honestly, thank god he can’t feel pain right now, otherwise the fall would have probably broken his back.

Ian looks at the older being, understanding wanting to get out of this realm. He then shifts his sight to the side edge of the path. The former elf put his hands carefully on the force field, and looks down in the deep of nothingness and black, trying to find a hidden crack or opening of some kind.

Having analyzed the space underneath the bridge with his eyes for possibly minutes, Ian can’t find the slightest of opening. He looks back at Joe, shaking his head with hopelessness.

“We...should probably go in there.” Ian says, pointing at the bright white portal.

“But there’s still a chance of living again!” Joe response, but he said it more to himself out of an desperate attempt to believe it.

The younger being shakes his head again, completely giving up on any attempts of escaping death in any way.

“I’m sorry...” Ian says, feeling quite guilty about all of this for some reason. “B-but the portal can close, s-so we gotta go in there, right...?”

Joe stays silent. He walks up to the edge of the bridge where the force field is, and tries to push both hands through it, but with no success. He let out a sign, looking at the younger being. It is at that moment that he truly gives up.

“Fine...”

Ian only gives a sad look, before starting to walk to the portal, Joe walking next to him.

As the walk closer and closer to the white portal, the brightness becomes more and more. When they are just a few steps away from entering, they have to close their eyes out of instinct, not wanting to get blind while being dead. 

The duo feel themselves entering heaven, as their heads feel lighter, and the last thing they saw was the bright white of the portal.

•+•

The next thing Ian knows is laying on some kind of soft surface, most likely being a cloud.

He opens his eyes, and is instantly met with the soft, yet bright colors of heaven. He gets up, and sees that his body is returned to normal, but in some kind of transparent mint green-ish tone.

‘Huh, no more stick-legs.’ Ian thought to himself, looking at his normal-yet-not-normal form again.

This was short lived, as Ian feels a bunch of creatures’ eyes staring right at him. He looks at the people who are staring at him, and feels his heart in his throat.

The people that are staring at him aren’t even creatures! Yes, all of them have round ears, but none of them are creatures the elf recognizes. Panic rushes in Ian’s mind as he looks around him, trying to find any creature of some kind that he knows of, but all of them are only strange round-eared beings, who only stare at the elf with confusion, and some even with mockery.

“Huh, never imagined heaven this way.” The young elf can hear Joe say with a bit of tiredness, but it was all a blur of noices that Ian can hear. Joe notices the look of panic on the younger’s face. “Are you okey?” He asks, but the former musician can tell what’s going on within seconds, as he sees the boy’s appearance.

For a millisecond or so, Joe thought that he is in a different version of heaven, but taking a look at the other people, who are staring at the boy, he’s right, but not for himself in this case.

And it doesn’t take a mindreader to tell that both human and elf ask the same question in their heads.

‘What is this?!’

That question soon fades from Joe’s mind, seeing the looks other dead people give Ian. He waves them off, gesturing to mind their own business.

As the the souls walk in the opposite direction, away from the duo, Joe let out a mental sign of relief, feeling glad that that was over. He looks at his right side where Ian is, and sees the boy sitting on the surface, curled up in a ball. Joe sits next to him, yet looking at a different direction, as the only sound they’re hearing is silence.

“So...” Joe says, breaking the silence that lasted for who knows how long. “You’re not human?” The former musician almost doesn’t believe he would ever ask that question, but oh well.

Ian answers by shaking his head slightly. Heck, he doesn’t even know what a ‘Human’ is, let alone seeing one. He glances over at some people being reunited with their loved one, catching up on anything that they once did in life.

“Do you have any...deceased family?” The adult human asks, choosing his words carefully. “You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”

The question hit the elf with thought and confusion. Well yes, he has a dead dad, but he, or at least his bottom part, will be alive for the next few hours. But...

Will he be transported here after those hours?

Was he here all along?

Will Barley and their mom go to this realm after they die?

Ian’s mind was overtaken with those questions, feeling overwhelmed once again.

“I-I don’t know...” he chokes out, not taking the uncertainty of this situation anymore. “I really, don’t, know...”

Not knowing what else to do, Joe lays a hand on the elf’s shoulder, trying to comfort him. The boy probably doesn’t even know what a human is, and now he’s stuck in a afterlife with possibly millions of them. If it had been the other way around, then Joe is certain he would’ve freaked out as well.

But for now, the human hopes that Ian’s family will somehow get in this heaven as well.

•+•

Outside of heaven, there’s a different fiasco.

“Huh, this is weird.” Terry says.

“What is it?” a Jerry who stands next to Terry asks.

“One hundred and fifty-one thousand souls going to the great beyond everyday, and I count every single one of them.” Terry explains. “The count’s off.”

“Huh.”

**Author's Note:**

> ÓwÒ


End file.
